Remembering her brother

Ito Yuuki carefully cleaned the gravestone for her late brother Aoi. She lit the incense and placed a few sticks of the Yakitori Aoi loved to eat at the base of the gravestone. As she sat with her head down, she began to speak, "Aoi, I finished that game I used to tell you about, 'Noble School', they even released a bonus disc that had a new character called Guy de Montfort. They said it was a sneak peek for the sequel game called 'Noble School: Rise of the First Prince.' When I played the game, that character made me think of you. I imagined that you were him and living in that world." She looked up into the sky, "Dad didn't take your death well, he sold the dojo and took a job working at the Yakitori stand. He says your soul will be happier if he is able to share your favorite food with others. He blames himself for your death, I think. He never says it, but I think he assumes that if he didn't demand that we practice kendo, you would still be with us. I don't think you would have wanted him to do this, but it makes him happy, so I support him.

I have kept up with my kendo, I even met a new friend. She's so funny. She says things like an old lady sometimes, but she is really good with a sword. She had a head injury after being hit by a truck, like you, but she survived. She says that it affected her memory, so she says funny things. I think she might have played 'Noble School' too because when I talk about it, she starts to cry like she knew all the characters. She even asked about one of the minor characters that only appear in the bonus disc, Doreen Leon. "

Yuuki smiled and then started to sob, " I really miss you Aoi, I didn't realize how important you were in my life until you were gone. I go into your room and talk about 'Noble School' sometimes just like I did when you were there, I know you never really listened to me, but it always made me happy to believe that you did. You even humored me, by asking questions." She chuckled, "I think maybe, I will just go on imagining that you are living as Guy de Montfort from now on, that way you can live forever." She smiled and then started to clean up the grave one final time before leaving for the day.

*****

The third exam fell on them before they knew it. The tower of magic slowly inched it's way up, higher and higher. Rising over the Academy like a white beacon of hope. The students all began to talk about magic and what it would be like to be able to become a mage. There was excitement when the third exam results were posted because the top student changed once more, this time Madeline Celeste d'Aumont took the top spot, Guy de Montfort the second and Alicia de Foix slipped back to third. The only big change that happened on the swordsmanship rankings was that Sir Évreux rose up the ranks to tenth place. When the announcement came for the Royal spring ball everyone in the women's dorm dropped everything and started looking for dresses.

For the men, things became tense. They needed to find a lady to escort, which in the case of some of the sons of lesser nobles meant heartache and grief as ladies were less likely to accept an invite from a lesser noble's son while the higher noble's sons were still undecided on who they would bring. Guy immediately asked Madeline to the dance. Claude was close behind in asking Alicia. When asked who he was going to take, Olivier smiled and said it was his duty to escort his sister.

As they all sat around the table at lunch, Guy asked Sir Évreux, "Charles, who are you going to ask to the dance?"

He blushed and replied, "I don't think I should go, I don't know how to dance. Also, I have nothing to wear."

Olivier thought for a minute and then said, "Sir Évreux, as a knight it would be expected that you would attend wearing your formal uniform with full regalia."

Olivier looked at Guy and Madeline, "That reminds me, I want to show you the official mage uniform when you have time today, I believe it is time for us to have such a thing as well."

Guy said without looking up, "As long as it isn't robes and a stupid pointy hat, I'll agree."

Olivier paled and then asked, "How in the hell did you know that? I haven't shown anyone the design yet."

Guy looked up and asked, "Seriously?" He sighed and then said, "I think it should look like the knight uniform, only let's make it black instead of the white the knights use." He thought for a moment and then said, "Instead of a sword and shield insignia, we'll have a shield with a bolt of lightning through it. He traced out a design on the table using his finger."

Olivier smiled and said, "That's an excellent suggestion unless you have a different suggestion, Madeline, I think we'll go with that."

Madeline smiled and nodded, "I think that's the best idea. I wouldn't like a long robe, that would make it hard to move."

Alicia asked, "Can I be a mage? I'll take an exam if there is one?"

Guy thought for a long time before he said, "Alicia I think you are suited to become a mage but in order to become a mage, it will mean holding secrets from your friends and loved ones. Can you live keeping secrets even from your most intimate loved ones?"

Alicia asked, "Why the secrets?"

Guy looked her in the eye and said, "If the secrets of magic were to be freely shared, it could mean the extinction of the entire human race. Is that something you feel you could commit to?"

Madeline frowned and then said, "Guy, I think we should discuss this with first mage Diggory first..."

Olivier smiled and said, "I worry that Alicia would tell her sister and then it would end up with my brother. My vote is no."

Guy kept staring into Alicia's eyes. She held his gaze firmly and said, "I understand what's at stake. I swear, I would never betray the Council of Magic."

Guy nodded and said, "We'll go meet with first mage Diggory, he will let you try a single spell if you can't complete it, your fate does not lie in the Council of Magic."

Madeline frowned and said, "I don't like that you ignored Olivier."

Guy smiled at Madeline and then looked at Olivier, "I know you won't understand my reasoning Olivier, but I firmly believe that Alicia is not who you think she is..." He turned to Madeline and said, "First mage Diggory will conduct her examination, if she fails his test, she won't be admitted. End of story."

Madeline smiled and nodded.